A milky white paw delicately reached out to touch a shiny scrap of…. what was this stuff again? Metal? The Veteran's Battlefield was littered with it. Nose followed as she took in the scent, grimacing as she stepped back. The stuff here smelt weird. Unnatural. Golden gaze surveyed the terra before her, the foreign scraps, the short clumps of grass and the dust stirring in the wind. To the south lay the Range, to the east the Buffalo Knolls. Two of the primary territories of Imperium, her former home. Karabela sat down gingerly. She'd been wandering all winter with her sister, trying to fight the loss of her mother…. and her brother taking off on his own. It was pretty much her and Falx now…. well, when the didn't wander their separate ways. Any more it seemed like the hardest thing in the world was keeping someone at her side. The dark-colored fae scowled and worked to stuff the darker thoughts back down in her belly where they belonged. Not that she needed anyone! A season was long enough for grief. Getting to her feet with a huff she paused… staring at her former homeland…. but she knew she couldn't go back. The memories were sure to drown her if Valentine didn't. Maybe she could amuse herself by making a pile of shiny things?

Wow this place was cool! Yes, maybe Ashmedai thought that about every new place he went, but, wow this place was really cool. Strange shaped, shiny rocks were sprawled across the otherwise dull landscape. One of the rocks even cut his ankle when he brushed up against it. It sure hurt, but Ash had never seen such odd sharp rocks before. Blood trickled through the fur on his left forepaw, but it wasn't important. He had someone like Cas who could treat him later even if it hurt right now. Ash's tongue lulled out of his maw as he traveled. He spotted the she-wolf ahead of him, which surprised him. He was heading by her anyway, so why stop now? Ashmedai kept his pace his normal, bouncy trot, accentuated by his lanky, adolescent frame. He offered his usual, toothy smile which always seemed to tug towards the left, "Pretty strange rock things, huh?" he'd call, his voice being a bit squeaky as it transitioned from boyish tones to more masculine ones, " 'm Ashmedai Imperialis. Can I ask your name?" He'd slow, keeping come distance between him and the woman in case she wanted trouble or was simply snappy like Ash's mother. He wasn't going to chance it. He did, however, offer her a silly boy, crossing his right fore leg over his left as he dipped down, glancing up with sky blue eyes to gauge her reaction. After his bow, he'd smile at the woman again, eyeing some of the shiny rock stuff around them.

Karabela was well on her way to building up a mile of random scraps of metal. There was no particular reason for it other than it was nice to wander and explore the strange plateau. She contemplated bringing back one peace as a souvenir except… well she didn't really have any place to brink it back to. Hm, she'd need to pick a home base. Something both she and Falx could enjoy and this was not that place. Raba turned her head as she heard a boy call out to her. Well now, he was about her size, that was rare…. wait. She squinted, certain she'd seen this boy before. Wasn't he one of Valen's? Yea! She remembered him! He was the boy that couldn't sit still during Cascade's hunt training. Huh… had that much time really passed? Raba feigned a gasp. "Awww…. Ashe you don't remember me? I'm hurt!" She let out a laugh. "Just kidding, I know we didn't know each other well. I used to be in Imperium. Remember Cas' hunt trainng? I'm Karabela Thyre… you can call me Raba though. Whatcha doin' out here?"

The woman seemed to know him. Ash was surprised, his eyes widening. As she described Cas's hunting training, the boy's maw would form a small "o". He remembered the meeting, but not this woman specifically, "I remember the hunt training," he'd admit, "though I was pretty little then, huh?" His head would tilt to his left, following the lopsidedness of his smile. Karabela would tell him he could call her Raba and asked him what he was doing. The boy would bound closer to his old packmate, feeling more comfortable knowing she was from Imperium, "I'm just lookin' around! Momma lets me wander off so long as I come back before the day's over. It's because I'm almost a whole year old, so she lets me." Ashmedai's tail wagged behind him, "Why are you out here and not with Imperium anymore? Did you not like it there?" His questions were honest and, to an extent, innocent. He didn't know why anyone would change packs or leave their pack, but he knew his mom used to avoid packs and that his dad had made Imperium, so usually there was a reason, right? Ashmedai wanted to know Raba's reason.

Karabela watched Ash's eyes widen in surprise. Was it coming back to him? Did he remember her at all? Not that she really expected him to. She tended to keep her head down and hadn't really spoken much to the other pups. "Just looking around huh? Want to look around together for a bit? We should have a bit of time before sundown." Karabela started walking, pausing to see if the boy would follow her. Not that she had any idea where she was going, she was just looking to explore. Ash didn't waste any time at getting right to the hard questions. She stopped and hesitated. She wanted to just shrug the question off but something told her she needed to just spit it out and be honest about it. Lying to this pup wouldn't do her much good anyway. "Ash… my mom died. I just… it kind of hurts to go back to the place she was when she was alive. I needed to get out and clear my head…." She shook her head and tried to push it all down with a smirk. "Besides I don't think your dad would be to happy if I just waltzed right up to the border after disappearing."

Ash felt excitement flow into him when the the woman, Karabela, invited him to look for shiny things with her. As they poked at things, the woman explained herself, answering Ashmedai's questions. The answer surprised the young boy, and he set to apologizing, "Sorry, I didn't know... I... I don't know what to say, but I know it must have been awful and even though I was too little to even really help, I'm still sorry, not that that helps now, I mean... Sorry..." She also had mentioned how his dad probably would not be happy with her. To this, the young boy let out a small "ahh" as he nodded slowly. He's like to think they could all come back and be happy, but that probably wouldn't happen anyway. He still wanted to defend the situation and protest that, he was sure that if she came back, his dad would understand, but he wasn't sure. He didn't know what to think about his dad as an Alpha He trusted his dad, for sure, but Ashmedai didn't understand how his dad lead the pack. He couldn't say he'd accept her back, because he might not, and if she disappeared, maybe that wasn't a bad thing for the pack, but Ash didn't blame Karabela. He didn't think he could stay in Imperium if his mother or father died either. She sounded justified, and Ashmedai would accept her back, but, as much as he hated to admit it, he wasn't the leader, "Man... I'm really sorry, Karabela... but... at least we have shiny things, right?" He smiled at her, bending down to pull a shiny object out of the ground, "Thee?"

Ash stuttered an apology and Karabela became very interested in a little round rock she was pawing at, uncertain where to go with the conversation. She wanted to brush it off, say it was alright but…. it really wasn't alright. "Thanks." she whispered, accepting his words but unsure really what to do with them. Raba wasn't ready yet to face her grief, couldn't bring herself to do it and so she fought to squash it down but when she tried to smile it wouldn't stay. Finally she managed a soft smile. "Yea, shiny things always help… that's a nice one! I wonder where some of this stuff came from." She glanced at the horizon and the coming night. "Ash, it was nice running into you. Maybe some time I can come visit, yea? But it's getting late, you'll want to get back home and I better get a den made." She quickly turned and walked away, hoping she hadn't offended him but the sudden stirring of negative emotions was driving her to be alone, somewhere she could wrestle them back into their box in private.